“Mindfulness is about love and loving life. When you cultivate this love, it gives you clarity and compassion for life, and your actions happen in accordance with that.” – Jon Kabat-Zin
In 2022, 10,952 Californians died from an overdose. This was the highest amount of overdose deaths in the country. Many overdoses are due to a return to use. However, techniques learned in treatment often prevent this from happening.
At Pacific Sands, we are committed to teaching you the techniques you need to make your recovery smoother and more manageable. Today, we will discuss mindfulness and stress management techniques for executives in recovery.
The Importance of Mindfulness and Stress Management for Recovery for Executives
Mindfulness and stress management are essential aspects of recovery for many people, including executives. These techniques prevent someone from returning to use after attending treatment. Approximately 40-60% of people return to use. This does not mean that the person has failed or cannot find recovery. It simply means adjustments to their recovery plan need to be made.
While returning to use can be an expected part of recovery for some people, it can be hazardous. Typically, when someone returns to use, they will consume the same amount of a substance that they did before treatment. The concern becomes their body is no longer used to higher concentrations of the substance. This may result in an overdose, which could result in life-threatening symptoms or death if left untreated. If someone is experiencing an overdose, they should seek medical care as soon as possible.
When practiced daily, mindfulness and stress management reduce the chances that someone returns to use. This is because people who practice mindfulness become aware of potential triggers that indicate a return to use is possible. The awareness prevents them from following through with that idea or indicating a need to turn to distractions or social support.
A recent study also discovered that mindfulness is helpful if a return to use occurs. Suppose someone has been without alcohol for several months and then decides to have one drink at a work party. Mindfulness helps them get back on track in their recovery and prevents it from worsening. Through mindfulness techniques, the person becomes aware of this event and examines the potential associated triggers. Knowing this information helps prevent further return to use.
3 Mindfulness Techniques to Help with Recovery
Mindfulness techniques are typically taught during cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT). CBT helps change thought patterns related to stress, depression, and anxiety and is proven to assist people in addressing potential negative thought patterns and triggers. DBT helps people respond to emotionally stressful situations in a healthier way. Below are a few mindfulness techniques someone might learn in CBT or DBT.
“What” Skills — During DBT, you are taught 3 steps to practice mindfulness. These skills help you recognize concerns or negative thoughts. It doesn’t directly provide solutions for those concerns, but identifying them is essential to maintaining recovery. Those 3 steps include:
- Observe the current situation. Do not try to change the situation during this step. Observe what is happening. How does your body feel physically and emotionally? Determine which sensations are internal and external.
- Describe in words what is going on. Do not judge your thoughts or emotions. Label them as facts. This description can be mentally, verbally, or on paper in a journaling fashion.
- Participate in the current situation by giving it your undivided attention. This could include addressing concerns and applying coping skills learned in treatment to change negative thoughts or emotions.
“How” Skills – These skills are often associated with DBT. “What” Skills assist you in knowing what to do with the information you learn when practicing the skills listed above. These mindfulness skills teach you how to respond to negative thoughts and emotions, which prevents potential triggers from impacting your recovery. These 3 steps include:
- Emphasize doing one thing at a time. Do not allow your thoughts to wander to the future or past. Only focus on one task in the present moment. That one thing may be focusing entirely on your breathing and becoming hyper aware of how you inhale and exhale.
- Focus on what works and is needed for the current situation. Do not allow your emotions to make decisions. Instead, apply logic and reasoning and follow through on them.
- See things as what they are without judging them. You are not a bad person for having any thoughts or emotions. The most important aspect of these skills is to let those judgmental thoughts about yourself or your emotions go after you have observed and recognized them.
Body Scan Meditation — This technique involves lying on your back or in a chair. First, notice your breathing. How does it go in and out? Do not change the way you are breathing. Just notice it.
Next, focus on your body. How does it feel? How do your clothes feel against the skin? How does the temperature of your body and the environment feel? Does any part of your body feel tingling, sore, heavy, or light? Focus on that area. Also, take note of any areas that don’t have any sensations.
Next, pay attention to each area of your body, from the tips of your toes to your lower legs and knees to the abdomen and chest. Focus on your lower and upper back, and pay attention to your fingers, hands, and arms. You will end your journey on your body scan at the very top of your head. How does each area feel?
Mastering types of meditations that calm your nervous system has the potential to reduce cravings and prevent a return to use.
Other Meditation Techniques for Recovery
Meditation provides tools for developing mindfulness skills. It also helps people concentrate, relax, and achieve emotional balance with a specific direction. One can do it alone or through several guided versions in the community or online.
A typical meditation technique that people will use is recovery breathing exercises. One example is 4-7-8 breathing. In this exercise, breathe in for 4 seconds, hold your breath for 7 seconds, and breathe out for 8 seconds. Repeat these steps as necessary to reduce stress when you’re experiencing cravings or withdrawals.
Stress Management Techniques for Executives
Maintaining stress is vital to recovering from a substance use disorder. Stress often triggers many executives to return to use. If you haven’t established coping strategies that work for you personally, you’ll return to old methods of coping.
Practicing mindfulness and meditation techniques is one way to reduce stress. Other methods include keeping up with exercise, a healthy diet, and a consistent sleep schedule. When you make these lifestyle changes, they improve the way your body feels, which lowers stress levels.
5 Individual Approaches to Stress Management
There are several ways to achieve stress management. People who do these daily things lower their stress levels and make it more manageable to avoid returning to use. Below is a chart of 5 approaches that someone might use, explaining how they help and providing examples to get you thinking about applying them to your life.
| Stress Management Approach | Why Does It Help in Recovery? | Examples of Approach |
|---|---|---|
| Time Management | Time management enhances work/life balance, decision-making skills, and productivity. Improving these areas of your life will decrease your stress levels. The less stressed and overwhelmed you are, the less likely you are to turn to substances to cope. | Creating to-do lists, maintaining planners, prioritizing urgent tasks, setting short-term and long-term goals, delegating tasks to someone else. |
| Relaxation Techniques | Relaxation has a significant influence on your physical and mental health. When these techniques are practiced, they ease muscle pain, lower heart rate, and blood pressure, and boost confidence, to name a few. Most importantly, they reduce any potential stress or cravings you may be experiencing. | Attending guided yoga or tai chi classes, practicing breathing exercises, participating in music or art therapy, getting a massage, setting up aromatherapy in your office. |
| Nature | Being in nature dramatically reduces stress, increases concentration, and improves your thinking and reasoning abilities. All of these factors make it easier for you to practice mindfulness and prevent a return to use from happening. | Taking a walk outside during lunch, going hiking or camping, sitting under a tree, having a picnic, spending time at the beach or pool. |
| Hobbies | Practicing hobbies or interests reduces stress and enhances creativity and confidence, leading to better mental health outcomes. Hobbies are also a healthy way to cope with stressful circumstances without turning to substances. | Reading, learning a foreign language, cooking, blogging, or painting pictures. |
| Sense of Humor | Laughter is a very healing experience for many people. It also becomes an excellent coping mechanism that improves memory, reduces pain, and brings a sense of connection. | Tell your favorite joke to a coworker, share funny stories, take a comedy class, visit a comedy show with a friend, watch a funny video. |
Seeking Support for Recovery: The Benefits of Socializing
Those with the most success have a strong support system to lean on during challenging moments. During recovery, having this support brings a sense of belonging and accountability you don’t have when you try to do it alone without someone to rely on. People who try to find recovery without anyone in their corner are more likely to return to use and experience higher levels of stress than someone who has people they connect to.
So, where can you find people who can support you along your recovery journey? Many people find support from their family, friends, and coworkers. These are people they see every day and have existing connections with. They are the people who can keep them accountable and on track with their treatment plans.
However, this isn’t possible for everyone, and they might need additional support as they navigate their recovery journey. In this case, attending 12-step groups or other support groups can introduce them to people with similar stories as themselves. Those connections allow individuals to have a sense of community, stay committed, and help others with substance use disorders find healing.
Substance Use Disorder Treatment for Mindfulness Stress Management
Attending addiction therapy is another place where you connect with individuals who provide you with social and emotional support throughout your recovery. The connections you form during your time in treatment will last for years and provide you with people experiencing the same things as you.
In addition to the social support you receive from therapy, you will be exposed to various mindfulness and stress management techniques. Your counselors and therapists will work with you as you practice these techniques and learn how to apply them to your life outside treatment.
Get Help for Substance Use Disorders Today in Santa Ana, CA
You shouldn’t have to try and recover from a substance use disorder on your own. Beyond mindfulness and stress management, you will gain additional tools and coping mechanisms to help you achieve a healthier life that allows you to return to your career more renewed.
At Pacific Sands, we offer substance use disorder treatment for people of many backgrounds, from veterans to executives. Our clinical director is on-site 50 hours a week, ensuring each person receives the care and tools to help them succeed in their recovery. For more information, call us today at 949-426-7962.
Pacific Sands — The first step towards a new life.
